You kept asking for it and now FOX is ready to deliver with American Idol online voting! Starting this Tuesday, March 1st right after the Top 12 Guys performance show you’ll be able to get on americanidol.com and vote for your favorite singer!
Of course there are a few catches, but they’re not big issues at all. You’ll have to log in to the voting system using your Facebook account info (speaking of, you already joined us on Facebook, right??), so if you don’t have that set up yet then get it ready now. Secondly, you have to be a U.S. resident (including Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands). Lastly, you’ll only have 50 votes allowed while phone and text messages (AT&T only) are unlimited voting. Once you’ve logged in on americanidol.com (NOT on facebook.com, but rather using your Facebook account info) you’ll select your vote on a voting page from a series of pictures, perform a verification (to make sure you’re not a bot), submit it, and then rinse & repeat.
What do you think of their plan for American Idol voting online? Is it about time they did it or something you wish they didn’t? Of course, this means Simon Cowell won’t beat Idol to it when he does it for his new show, X Factor, this fall.
Check out the American Idol’s press release after the jump:
For the first time ever, American Idol will allow viewers to vote for their favorite contestants online at americanidol.com. Sponsored by AT&T, online voting begins immediately after the first performance show airing Tuesday, March 1 (8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. In addition to online voting, fans will continue to be able to vote via toll-free phone lines, as well as unlimited text-message votes for AT&T wireless customers during the voting window (standard text-messaging rates may apply).
To vote online during the voting window, fans should visit AmericanIdol.com and follow the directions. Fans will be required to log in using their Facebook account to access the American Idol voting page, which will feature the name and photo of each of the current contestants. To vote, fans will simply choose their favorite contestant, complete the security verification and submit their choice. After each performance show and during the online voting window, fans may cast up to 50 total online votes for that evening’s performances. Only fans with a registered Facebook account in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be able to cast their vote(s) online.
“We have been wanting to do online voting for several years, and now Facebook has offered us a secure solution and we are ready to go,” said Simon Fuller, Creator and Executive Producer, American Idol. “The show has always involved a high level of engagement with its viewers through texting and phone voting, and it’s great to expand on this tradition.”
While I’m very excited to see this finally happening, I hope they’re ready for all the conspiracy theories it’ll introduce with every results reveal. Just think back to DWTS’ Bristolgate to see how easily dissatisfaction with the results can turn in to a blame game and accusations of abuse. Maybe the use of Facebook is intended to calm those concerns (hah!). I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.
Source: FOX – American Idol